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Ignatius the Intense
At his People for Others blog, my friend Paul Campbell has trouble coming up with “five fun facts” about Ignatius Loyola. One of them is the fact that Ignatius was hauled up several times before the Spanish Inquisition. This got me thinking about the personalities of saints. There aren’t many “fun” facts about Ignatius because Ignatius was probably not much of a fun guy. I think he was pretty intense. He seems to have had […]
Jesuit Vocations
About 280 men are currently in Jesuit formation in the United States. The Jesuits are praying for more. Being good disciples of Ignatius Loyola, they are also working to encourage vocations as well as praying for them. An article in Holy Cross Magazine describes how this works on one Jesuit campus. The idea of a vocation gets “mentioned.” One of the most effective “mentioners” isn’t even a Jesuit.
Best Ignatian Songs: Holy Now
Ignatius Loyola experienced a profound mystical vision on the banks of the Cardoner river in northern Spain. He did not describe it any detail. He merely remarked in his autobiography that he learned more about God in the brief moments of this vision than he did in years of study and prayer. The vision seems to have opened Ignatius’ eyes to the presence of God everywhere. It’s what he was getting at in the Contemplation […]
Finding God in ALL Things?
The Ignatian phrase “Finding God in All Things” is like the mysterious verse of St. Paul’s: “pray without ceasing” (followed immediately in 1 Thessalonians by “In all circumstances give thanks”). You ask, “how is that possible?” and “what does that really mean?” There’s no pat answer to these questions, but this video has much insight into the incarnational quality of Ignatian spirituality that gives rise to the idea that we can find God in all things. Take […]
The New Atheists on YouTube
Fr. Robert Barron writes in America magazine’s new Books and Culture section about the response to his YouTube videos on the reasonableness of faith. The reaction, at least according to the comments, has been overwhelmingly negative. Most objectors show one one of four attitudes: scientism, ecclesial angelism, biblical fundamentalism, and Marcionism (distaste for the supposedly violent and unforgiving God of the Old Testament). Here’s what he says to critics who ask him how we know […]
Best Ignatian Songs: For Unto Us a Child Is Born
Christ is at the center of Ignatian spirituality. Much of the Spiritual Exercises consists of meditations on the gospel accounts of the life of Jesus. The first of these is a meditation on Jesus’ birth. In David Fleming’s paraphrase: To be able to enter into the deep-down stillness of this night, to be able to see this very human baby with all the wonder which comes from eyes of faith, to watch how Mary and […]
Billy Collins
I wasn’t surprised to find out that the poet Billy Collins is a Jesuit alum (Holy Cross ’63). There’s a distinctly Ignatian tone in this quote: “I feel now that my sense of the spiritual is directly connected to my sense of wonder, my ability to be amazed by the fact of my existence in all its vital impermanence and by the spectacular environment I wake up to every morning. I am guessing that this […]
The List 6.22.09: Creighton Online Ministries
The List is a weekly feature highlighting something remarkable, offbeat, or otherwise noteworthy from the world of the Jesuits and Ignatian spirituality. Digital technology may not change the content of prayer, but it sure has expanded the forms of prayer. CDs, MP3 downloads, prayer websites, meditations in Flash–all these are a few clicks away. For the past decade, Creighton University’s online ministries project has been in the forefront of new technology. Its website offers many […]
Remembering Arrupe
Pedro Arrupe, head of the Jesuits from 1965 to 1983, wrote one of the most moving reflections on suffering that I’ve ever heard. He suffered a massive stroke in 1981. He couldn’t speak and he could barely move. He wrote: More than ever I find myself in the hands of God. This is what I have wanted all my life from my youth. But now there is a difference; the initiative is entirely with God. […]